


Voyd & Violet - Going to the Chapel

by Talyesin



Series: Voyd & Violet [19]
Category: Incredibles (Pixar Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff, Happy Ending, Lesbian Romance, Mild Angst, Post-Movie: Incredibles 2 (2018), Slow Burn, Verbal Abuse, Young Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-18 09:59:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18118505
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Talyesin/pseuds/Talyesin
Summary: Voyd and Violet face a threat from Voyd's past, and look to their future together.





	Voyd & Violet - Going to the Chapel

Summer sped by in a way Violet had never noticed before, utterly unlike the long, languid summers of childhood. There were trips out with Karen and the boys, to the beach, to the park, to the movies, to the new shopping mall that had just been built, or into the city. There were family trips - a camping trip, a trip to the ocean. And there were dates with Karen - lots and lots of dates with Karen.

Violet’s every waking moment not actively spent with Karen was spent thinking about Karen. She loved her girlfriend with an enthusiasm that sometimes overwhelmed her, and she would have to spend a few minutes in the bathroom running cold water over her wrists and nape of her neck.

For Karen’s part, she loved Violet completely, totally, utterly. Violet’s smiles shone brighter than the sun. Violet’s laugh was Karen’s favourite sound. Karen wanted nothing more than to see Violet smile and hear her laugh forever.

Their relationship had gone public on the Fourth of July, when as a family of supers they’d stopped a bunch of communist villains led by Baroness von Ruthless from spoiling the city’s fireworks display. A celebratory kiss between Voyd and Ultraviolet had been caught by a lucky photographer and it wasn’t long before it was on the cover of every magazine in the country, if not the world. Suddenly the topic of lesbians was on everyone’s lips, every show, every newspaper.

“It’s nobody’s business who you love,” Helen had advised them, when the hundredth request for an interview had come through DevTech’s public relations department.

“I think they should do it,” Bob had argued. “Get it out there, show the world that love is love, no matter if it’s a man and a woman, or two women - or two men!”

“Really, Dad?” Dash asked, surprised.

But Bob waved it off. “Ah, if you knew what some of the guys in my unit got up to in the war, you wouldn’t be so surprised.” He turned to his daughter. “Violet, honey, it’s up to you, and Karen. If you do an interview, sure, if might blow up, but it might also settle things down.”

Violet had looked into Karen’s teal eyes and seen the utter trust and utter love in them, then nodded. “We’ll do it.”

DevTech’s public relations handled the arrangements. They did an interview with Time magazine, and a photo shoot for Life, then the big leagues: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, the handsome young dark-haired host. They’d handled everything with dignity and quiet resolve, impressing even their fiercest detractors with their eloquence and propriety.

“I just love her,” Violet told Johnny.

“And what’s wrong with love?” Karen added. The band had broken into “What the World Needs Now Is Love”, a new song just on the charts but rising on a rocket. 

The audience cheered, and, seized by the moment, Voyd and Ultraviolet had kissed on national television. A chaste kiss, barely more than a peck, but an historic one. DevTech had to hire on new staff to handle all the fan mail the young couple received after that.

When school started back up again, and with Jack-Jack in a new nursery school for super-preschoolers, Karen and Violet went into DevTech’s headquarters to help wade through the fan mail. 

“Hasn’t anyone invented something to make this easier?” Karen whined, rubbing her wrist, sore from autographing pictures for fans. “An automatic autograph machine?”

“It wouldn’t be the…” Violet trailed off, her forehead wrinkled in a frown.

“Angel?”

Violet looked up from the fan mail in her hands. “It’s addressed to you.”

Karen shrugged, but a bad feeling began to shiver up her back. “We read each other’s mail all the time.”

“No, Baby, it’s addressed to you - ‘To Karen’.” Violet passed the letter to her.

Karen paled and drew back from Violet’s outstretched hand, shaking her head. “Who’s it from?”

Violet glanced at the signature and then back to Karen’s face. “It just says Madge.”

“Mom…” Karen covered her mouth with her hand.

Violet reached over and took Karen’s other hand. “Your mother?”

Karen nodded. “Can you… can you read it for me?”

Violet nodded and read aloud, “To Karen, I had hoped the blue-haired super that had been hanging out with those Incredibles wasn’t you but when I saw you make a fool of yourself on national television with that purple-haired tramp-” Violet paused, took a deep, angry breath, and continued “- I knew it had to be you since God never did give you any sense. You keep your perversions to yourself, we told you, and the world won’t come after you. Well you’ve done it now and there’s nothing to be done about it. God have mercy on you.”

Violet looked at Karen to see how she was doing, but Karen had dropped her head onto her knees, hiding behind a curtain of teal hair.

“Baby?”

“Is that all?”

“There’s more, but… This is horrible.”

“Oh no, she’s obviously in a good mood, or just keeping polite because she doesn’t know who might be reading this.”

Violet’s eyes flashed angrily, defensive of her girlfriend. “This? is polite?”

“Can you finish it?”

“If you’re sure.”

Karen nodded against her knees, shoulders hunched against what her mother might have else to say.

“Um… Okay. God have mercy on you. I am writing you against my better judgement but your Aunt Judy has always had a soft spot for you and convinced me to let you know. Your father is- oh Baby.”

Karen looked up, eyes red against the suppressed tears. “What is it?”

“Your father is dying.”

Karen’s barely suppressed pain and anger and humiliation all shut off, like throwing a switch, and she was suddenly numb. Dying. Her father. How strange. Surely she should feel something, loss, freedom, relief, grief, but she felt nothing.

“Oh,” she said, reaching for the letter. Violet handed it to her, and Karen read aloud: “The doctors say it’s something to do with something that happened when your father was in the Army, but they don’t know how to treat it. He has a few days left, they say. If you’re able to scrape up enough human decency and come and say your goodbyes, he’s at Mercy General. Make sure you wear your wig and leave your floozy at home, we don’t need the attention. I don’t expect you at the funeral. Madge.” Karen put the letter on the pile of letters that needed no reply. “Yep, definitely staying polite for some stranger’s eyes. Not a single profanity in the entire letter, that must have been hard for her.”

Violet reached for Karen’s hand and Karen let her take it, more to reassure her than any need to be reassured. 

“Baby, are you okay?”

“I don’t know,” Karen said, getting up and heading for the door.

Violet followed her. “Where are you going?”

“Home,” Karen answered, knowing it wasn’t the truth but not knowing what else to call it. The city of her birth? The place where she grew up? There wasn’t a word in the English language for the place she’d lived most of her life but had never felt welcome, wanted, or loved. 

‘Home’, she knew, was with the Parrs, with Violet.

Burbsville was just to the east of Metroville and everything that you might expect of a quiet little suburb in 1964 - big ranch houses on huge sprawling lots, young trees just starting to achieve the height and strength necessary for rope swings, kids riding by on bikes or skateboards, not-quite-new cars in the driveways. With older, more mature eyes, Karen could see subtle signs of what lay beneath the pleasant, conforming facade - empty bottles of liquor in the garbage cans, a sunglasses-wearing mom walking her baby under an overcast sky, an ‘dedicated bachelor’s’ weekend barbeque attended only by attractive young men.

Karen had borrowed the Incredibile and put it on stealth mode for the trip to Metroville, taking the long way around to see her old neighbourhood out of a sense of… nostalgia, mainly, with a healthy dose of procrastination. It surprised her how little she felt about Burbsville - not the elementary school where she’d been bullied for her teal hair until a teacher with bright pink hair had started there; nor the high school she’d wallflowered through, trying as hard as she could to escape any notice, any attention. And the less she thought about her childhood home, the better.

Eventually, though, she couldn’t put it off any more and she drove into the parking lot of Mercy General. She checked herself in the rear view mirror, nodded at her reflection, drawing strength from the necklace Violet had given her. Satisfied, she took a deep breath and went into the hospital.

It only took a few questions to find her father’s room on the fourth floor in the Terminal Wing. Karen found him lying in his bed.

“Dad?”

The sunken man in front of her bore little resemblance to the towering, thickly-muscled terror of her childhood. It was as if his muscles had melted away, leaving only loose flesh atop a skeletal understructure. A tube ran to his nose from a tank nearby, and another from his left arm to an IV hanging from a nearby stand. The room was dim, the only light from a curtained window.

At the sound of her voice, his eyes flickered open. Hazy with pain and painkillers, he eventually focused enough on her face to recognize her. Evidently whatever was killing him had left him enough musculature for facial expressions, because he frowned.

“Get out,” he whispered, hoarse, like cloth dragged over gravel. 

Karen stepped forward. “Dad, Mom told me to come.”

“I told her not to,” he rasped. “Get out.”

“Dad--”

“Don’t call me that!” he very nearly growled, fists clenching and trembling with effort. “I don’t have a daughter. I don’t have any kids.”

“Dad!”

Then the profanity began, the abuse that was so familiar, but so very changed - not just from the obvious emptiness of his threats, and the sound of his voice so unlike what it had once been, booming enough to rattle the good china, but from the sure and certain knowledge that every vile insult she was called was a lie, that every contemptuous word held no power to hurt - that Karen allowed it to continue for a couple of minutes until she could no longer contain herself, and she laughed.

Laughed loud and hard and clear, cheery and astonished both. Laughed until her father stopped speaking, but just lay there, panting for breath.

“I was scared of _you?!_ ” Karen said when she finally stopped laughing, and wiped away tears from her eyes. She composed herself and added, “I’m very sorry you’re dying. I hope it’s not too painful, but... I don’t really care one way or another. Goodbye.”

Then she turned and walked out, without waiting for him to catch his breath or reply.

Violet was waiting by the Incredibile when Karen exited the hospital.

“How did you get here?” Karen asked, kissing Violet and taking her into her arms. That was the feeling of home, of belonging - wrapped in her Angel’s arms.

“I called in a favour,” Violet answered. “I thought you might need a friendly face.”

“I’ll always need your beautiful face,” Karen replied, kissing her again. “But I’m okay, really. Let’s get out of here.”

The days that followed saw a quieter, more pensive Karen helping around the house. The Parr family respected her need for solitude, even if she was never really alone. Soon summer began to fade, and the threat of school starting up again began to colour their activities.

Then, finally, one evening at the end of supper, Karen worked up the nerve to say what had been on her mind.

“Helen? Bob? I’d like to ask you something,” Karen said. 

“Sure, honey, what is it?” Helen asked. Bob put aside his newspaper.

“Well, it’s like this. I’m no longer comfortable with my name. I’m thinking of changing it.”

“Which one? Voyd?” Dash asked.

“No, no, my family name,” Karen explained. “I’m not especially fond of it and it pretty much has no meaning for me any more.”

“Oh,” Violet said, taking Karen’s hand. “That’s understandable.”

Karen smiled at her and gave her hand a squeeze.

“What did you want to change it to?” Helen asked.

Karen took a deep, steadying breath and said, “I was hoping you’d let me take the name Parr.”

From the grins around the table, Karen knew the answer was yes, but hearing Helen confirm it was nevertheless a relief.

“Oh honey, we’d be honoured,” Helen said, and Bob nodded.

“I dunno,” Dash said, looking skeptical. “It would be weird.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Violet replied.

Dash shook his head. “No, I mean, if she’s joining the family, doesn’t that mean you’re dating your sister?”

“Not if she marries Violet,” Bob said. Everyone turned to face him, surprised looks on their faces.

“What?” he said, returning to his newspaper. “That way she can take the family name without any… weirdness. It’s legal for two women to get married in Hawaii.”

“Married…” Karen said, stunned. She’d never thought about it before. She never imagined finding anyone as amazing as Violet, never thought she’d be so loved, so welcome, so lucky.

She turned to Violet, but Violet wasn’t sitting next to her any more. Violet was down on one knee, holding Karen’s hand.

“Baby… Karen, will you marry me?” Violet asked, her beautiful purple eyes so open, so sincere, so filled with love that tears immediately spilled down Karen’s cheeks.

Wordless, unable to speak, Karen could only nod and throw herself into Violet’s arms, kissing her, heart bursting with joy.

“Ew, gross,” Dash complained, and Jack Jack laughed.

A whirlwind of planning followed, and on Labour Day Weekend they found themselves on the shores of Maui, the sky beautifully clear, the sun shining and just beginning to clear the horizon as dawn gave way to day, the crowd gathered and lei’d, Karen standing at the very edge of the surf with the kahuna pule.

Karen’s sleeveless dress was a simple one of white knee-length lace over a satin bustier. She stood, barefoot in the surf, holding a bouquet of blue and teal flowers, with the same woven into her hair. Her Best Maid, Connie, stood nearby, dressed in pink, with a huge pink plumeria tucked behind one ear.

A Hawaiian girl, dressed in a lovely sarong of purple and green, began to play I Only Want to Be With You on a ukelele, slowly, romantically, singing along in a high, clear voice.

Jack Jack emerged from the treeline, carrying the rings, dressed in a floral shirt and short pants. Then Dash, as Violet’s Man of Honour. And finally Violet herself, led by Bob.

Bob wore a floral shirt, white shorts, and a lei of purple and red flowers, but Karen only knew that from the wedding photos. At the time, she only had eyes for Violet, her Angel.

Dressed in a knee-length white satin dress that flared wide from her waist and clung tight above, short-sleeved and scoop-necked, Violet was stunning. Beyond stunning; breathtaking. Karen stared, jaw dropping, as the beautiful young woman she loved more than anything in the world made her way down the beach.

And then time stopped as Violet hesitated.

Bob paused next to his eldest child and only daughter, confusion and concern clear on his face. He looked down at Violet, then bent down as she said something to him, too quiet for anyone else to hear.

Karen’s heart halted. She couldn’t breathe. Of course Violet had changed her mind. Of course she had. The whole thing had been an elaborate prank-

“No,” Karen whispered, rejecting the entire scenario her worry had concocted. Violet loved her. She refused to believe anything else.

Bob smiled at Violet, who handed him her bouquet, then turned to look at the gathered guests, settling on Karen. Violet reached down and grabbed the hem of her dress, her eyes never leaving Karen’s. 

Violet hiked her dress halfway up her thighs… and ran down the beach towards Karen, who grinned and laughed, happy tears spilling down her cheeks. Violet launched herself into Karen’s arms, kissing her, laughing and splashing in the surf.

“I do, I do, I do!” Violet exclaimed, punctuating each with a kiss.

“We haven’t even had the ceremony yet!” Karen laughed, kissing her back.

“I couldn’t wait one more second to marry you!” Violet explained. “But you have to say I do too!”

“I do too!” Karen replied, hugging her tight.

Having traded I-dos, the couple settled enough to allow the officiant to conduct the ceremony. They exchanged leis, vows, and rings. The kahuna pule blessed them, guided them through the blending of sand, and declared them married.

As Karen and Violet kissed as a married couple, the sun above could not match the brightness of the love in their hearts. And whatever perils lay ahead, they knew they would always face them together.


End file.
